let's get serious.: michigan pt 2: ghost town and gay capital of michigan?

The next day we woke up a bit sluggish; the greasy food and beer didn’t help the night before. We were to head down to Saugatuck for the day and night before we headed back to Chicago. We packed up all of our belongings and headed upstairs. Nate was already awake and told us Carrie stepped out to get stuff for breakfast. You could tell Nate was in better spirits from his untimely sickness. “Hey, did you know you have animal prints in the snow in your backyard?” I asked. “Yeah, it could have been a dog or a wolf,” he responded nonchalantly. Interesting.

Carrie returned soon after and her and Nate prepared breakfast. Throughout the weekend we had joked about city vs country life so I was interested to see what they were cooking. “Eggs in a window,” said Nate. “No, eggs in a basket,” quipped Carrie. Regardless, it was a piece of bread with a hole, buttered and an egg cracked into its center and fried. I must admit they were pretty good. I told them that was the country way of cooking breakfast but in the Asian way we would have substituted the bread for rice. We finished up breakfast, shared a few more laughs and were soon on our way. They had been more than gracious hosts and Bridget and I were happy we will always have a place we could escape to when life gets too routine.

As we were making our way back to the highway, what do we pass up but Vito’s itself. Goddoggit (that’s a country saying right?). I texted Carrie, “We just passed up Vito’s. I bet it’s delicious.”

It took us less than an hour to get to Saugatuck. We decided to head straight to Saugatuck Dunes State Park. I read about a trail that lead you straight to the beach and since we had still not seen Lake Michigan, it seemed appropriate. When we got to the parking lot, I expected to see a visitor center. What we got was a trail map and two outhouses. Yellowstone, how you spoil people! I partook in the outhouse; nothing like being in the middle of the forest being as cold as it was and having to go potty.

I finished up and soon we were on the beach trail. The surroundings were nice and serene; the white snow on the trees and the ground invoked some sort of cleansing (get it? No nevermind). It was peaceful, however. I almost half expected a wolf to come out and eat us but really all we got was a pack of deer crossing in front of us that was cool in itself. We walked less than a mile and off in the distance I saw a hint of blue. “OMG, it’s the ocean (well, lake)!” I shouted. We quickened our pace and there was Lake Michigan in all its beauty. The great thing about visiting these areas other than summer peak season is we literally had the beach to ourselves. I snapped a few shots to try to capture the experience.

We walked back to the car and headed down to Saugatuck proper. It was around 2:30pm. All I knew about Saugatuck was that it was supposed to be a cool small town nestled right up to Lake Michigan. Thanks to Carrie, apparently it is also a haven for the gay community. As Bridget would say, “You knew all along.” Um no. Our first stop was our hotel on Butler, their version of State St, named Bella Suites and Spa. We dropped off our bags, parked the car and took a much needed shower. After freshening up we were back out again. The receptionist told us we could see Saugatuck downtown in 20 minutes. If I didn’t stop to take pictures, it may have been less. Long story short, Saugatuck is a ghost town this time of year. Half of the shops were closed and there were no boats on the pier. Almost no one was on the streets. Granted it was a Sunday and it was cold but it really did seem eerie.

Bella Vita Suites and Spa

Where are thou boats?

Saugatuck City Hall

I swear I didn't know.

We finally decided to stop in Phil’s Bar & Grill, which had rave reviews on Yelp and Tripadvisor. It was only about 4:30pm. Luckily we were able to score a seat right by the bar where they were playing the Bears vs Tim Tebow and the Broncos. Phil’s wasn’t all that big but it was cozy and intimate. The restaurant was furnished with all espresso brown wood furniture, from the bar to the seats and tables. Earlier at a wine shop, a patron remarked on how remarkable the blackened burger (topped with bacon and gorgonzola cheese) was, so Bridget ended up getting that while I opted for a Lobster Cobb Salad. We also ordered the Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo and Gorgonzola Beer Cheese Dip for starters. The soup was amazing but the Cheese dip not so much. I had a hard time determining whether the dip should be sweet or salty; the dip had dried cherries and pecans to add sweetness. After awhile, I decided it was an acquired taste. Bridget enjoyed it thoroughly though. As for the main dishes, my Lobster Cobb Salad was unspectacular. You figure they add lobster to it and it would take the normally good tasting dish to space and beyond. Instead, I don’t think it ever took off. It was just a standard Cobb Salad. Now as for Bridget’s burger, I’d have to say it would make my top five list of burgers along with Longman and Eagle, Shake Shack, In & Out and either a Big Mac/Whopper (keep it real woot woot). We finished up our food just in time for half time to start. We asked for our check and our waitress returned it with their staple after dinner treat, animal crackers. Nice touch, I thought.

With nothing left to do, we ended back at the hotel by 6. We never really ended up going back out, partly because we were trying to find the Bears game (fortunately, we didn’t; we got Tebowed 13-10) and also because we were done with the cold.

The next morning, after feeling like lame-o’s for not doing anything the night before, we decided to stop at one last place before we left: Uncommon Grounds Café. It was your typical quaint coffee shop but what gave it character were the lines of pictures of the owner and their family traveling to Ecuador and the like to support free trade coffee. I know a lot of bigger places like Starbucks like to promote they do, but the pictures were a nice and subtle way of saying they were passionate in their life’s work. I nestled in with a slice of pear almond coffee cake and coffee and Bridget had oatmeal and apple cider.